This Sunday marks the 10th anniversary of September 11. Across the country, yogis are gathering together to reflect, remember, and honor the people who lost their lives and the families and communities who live with the effects of that tragic day. “I feel like I needed to get the word out that it’s never too late to lend a hand to those affected,” says Ashley DiMeglio, who organized a music and yoga event in Congers, New York, on Sunday.  ”Coming together as a yoga community not only heals with our yoga practice but brings us together to share in our hearts how we can unite together for this cause,” she says. For the class, whose proceeds go to September 11 Families’ Association , she asks people to bring a picture of a loved who who died or otherwise affected by events of that day. “The reason for this is to place the picture on their yoga mat to dedicate their yoga practice to them and to send healing energy out to those that need that it.”  Many other teachers and studios are offering free classes, or hosting fundraisers. Here’s just a sampling of the events happening on Sunday. If there’s nothing in your area, why not find a park, gym, or living room to be together, and remember? New York By Love Alone , a free day of meditation on Governor’s Island hosted by The Interdependence Project, the Shambhala Center, the Jewish Meditation Center of Brooklyn, The Village Zendo, Won Buddhism of Manhattan, Buddhist Peace Fellowship, and other  meditation and spiritual communities. Some of New York’s leading meditation teachers will provide guided instruction throughout the day. San Diego Yoga for 9/11 is a 3-hour yoga-and-meditation practice to honor the heroes and victims of that day, with proceeds going to the International Association of Fire Fighters Disaster Relief Fund. New Hampshire A 10th Anniversary Yoga Celebration at Zaanti Yoga and Meditation Studio in Wilton will benefit the New Hampshire campaign for a U.S. Department of Peace, and include meditation, mantra, and asana. Seattle Village Yoga is offering a free afternoon yoga class in honor of the day.  

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Reflect and Remember: Yoga on 9/11

The latest entry in the popular field of yoga memoirs is a wickedly funny book with one of the most memorable titles ever: “Yoga Bitch: One Woman’s Quest to Conquer Skepticism, Cynicism, and Cigarettes on the Path to Enlightenment.” The book chronicles a 25-year-old yoga student’s quest for enlightenment via a teacher-training program in Bali. For anyone who has ever fantasized that yoga could instantly transform them into a serene, lithe, uber-flexible and wise-beyond-their-years yogi, only to be rudely awakened to your real-time self doing a face plant on your mat, this story is for you. You’ll commiserate, cringe, and laugh out loud. Buzz recently spoke with the author, Suzanne Morrison, a writer and solo performer, who, 10 years later, is far less cynical but still has a lot to say about transformation, the marketing of yoga, and some of the more fringe elements of the practice. You went to this teacher training seeking transformation. Do you feel that you were transformed by the experience? I do. But if you go home from a yoga retreat believing yourself to be completely transformed, you should have that checked out. Your friends are probably making fun of you behind your back. That’s what Yoga Bitch is about, in many ways: it’s about waking up with yourself again after believing yourself to be transformed. Transformation is a long-term game. It’s something you can’t really see until you look back far enough. But I don’t think spiritual effort is ever a waste of time, even if you don’t see immediate results. One day you’ll touch your toes, having tried to get there for two years. Five years later you might notice that you’ve been slipping into meditation with less drama than you once did.  Last week my new favorite yoga teacher talked me into actually holding Side Crow for five seconds, and that made me feel like a whole new person–until I fell on my face, and then I recognized myself again. Looking back on your time in Bali, is there anything you wish you could have appreciated more that you didn’t at the time? Oh jeez, yes. I wish I had been able to notice that my ego was running amok after my first big spiritual breakthrough. I wish I had actually gotten enlightened. I wish I had seen the face of God while meditating and then marched into the future feeling great about myself. I wish I had thought to ask for the recipe for the amazing and forbidden coconut vanilla milkshake I became obsessed with. Most of all, I wish I had known towards the end of the retreat that 10 years later I would look back on my teachers in Bali and know that they were the best teachers I have studied with. They gave me a foundation in yoga philosophy that opened some incredible doors for me, both spiritually and intellectually. Physically, too–before Bali I looked like a dying dog in Plank Pose. Now I merely look like an elderly dog. Since you did your teacher training 10 years ago, yoga has become even more mainstream. Any thoughts about the yogification of popular culture? Well, it’s fascinating! I have an older friend who recently had a stroke, and his doctor prescribed yoga to help him regain some lost mobility in his legs and arms. I think that sort of development is pretty awesome. I am still conflicted about the way yoga has been used as a marketing device in order to sell everything from herpes medication to insurance plans. We are a nation of consumers, and right now many of us are deeply invested in consuming a particular health-and-wellness lifestyle. We all must be very exhausted or something, that we respond so profoundly to these yoga images, these wellness promises. But we do: if we are told a new car is going to make us feel nourished, calm, at one with nature and spirit because a woman in white is doing yoga next to it, a lot of us buy in. That image is seductive. It sometimes makes me feel like a huge chump. If I see a sun-drenched advertisement featuring a woman with perfectly clear skin meditating while her all-organic flax seed granola waits patiently for her, nestled in a beautiful ethnic bowl, I find myself wanting that granola. That granola, I’m convinced, is going to calm me the fuck down. I’m a total stooge. Then again, maybe it will calm me down. Maybe that granola has special powers. I want to believe in the power of the granola. During your program, you experienced kundalini rising, which for many practitioners is a kind of yogic Holy Grail. Have you ever recaptured that feeling?   I haven’t, although I did get overheated and pass out in the tub once, and it was kind of a similar experience. Seriously, though, I have deliberately backed off a little on meditation and pranayama. That was such an intense experience and I think there’s a part of me that is afraid to repeat it. Which is odd, because it was an amazing, spectacular event. I felt like I could bond with plants, suddenly. But I’ve tried to belatedly take the advice my teacher gave me in Bali. Lou said to let it go. He said that I shouldn’t try to repeat my kundalini experience or try and hold onto it or else it would actually hurt my meditation practice. And he was right: in Bali, I tried to hold onto that feeling for a long time, and it made meditation impossible, because I was always trying to recapture something lost. Now when I meditate I try and approach it as something new. I try not to compare today’s meditation to yesterday’s. This is actually good for my writing, too–one good writing day and you want them all to be like that. Without giving too much away, there’s a part in the book that discusses the health-preserving benefits of … urine therapy. Have you kept up with the practice? Hell no! Once was more than enough for me. Just the thought makes me gag. Interestingly, I recently spent time with my old roommate Jessica, who plays a significant role in Yoga Bitch , and she told me that she doesn’t do it anymore, either. She was hardcore. If she’s stopped doing it, I don’t think there’s a lot of hope for urine therapy to go mainstream. Read more from Suzanne Morrison at suzannemorrison.blogspot.com .

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A Q+A with the author of Yoga Bitch

The producers of Yogawoman have announced that Academy-award nominated actress and yogini Annette Bening will narrate the film, which will premiere in major North American cities in September. Yogawoman illuminates the global phenomenon of how modern women have embraced yoga. Eighty-percent of American yogis are women. Yet most of the teachers who bought the lineage here are men. The documentary explores how the current generation of female yoga teachers are taking the practice and making it their own–empowering their female students every step of the way. That’s why the people behind YogaWoman recently launched their website, a portal for yoginis, says co-producer and director Kate Clere. “Yogawoman.tv is designed as a resource for all yoga women around the world to come together and share all their thoughts, writings and research on how yoga is changing women’s lives,” she told Buzz.  “It will be a one stop shop to find out what is going on with classes, retreats and workshops that support women with their practice.” As a community resource, the website also tells you how you can pre-order a copy, host a screening, and find out where the film will be showing at a theater near you. We want to know: How do the women in your life support each other’s yoga practice?

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New Yoga Film Narrated by Annette Bening

Yogis around the globe will be celebrating Earth Day on Friday. After all, yoga and caring for the Earth go hand-in hand. As Green Yoga Association founder Laura Cornell tells Yoga Buzz, “Yoga starts with the Earth. Period. Our bodies are made from the elements of the planet, our blood from its waters, the air we breathe from its atmosphere. We are not separate. When we recognize this deeply, we are on our way towards the first step of yoga–ahimsa.” . This Earth Day, take your love of the planet one step further–and take action. Many studios are offering up free and donation-based classes, live drumming, and community events. Here are a few other ways you can thank the Earth: 1. Become a Yoga Energy Activist. Shiva Rea invites you to respond to the ongoing energy crisis by commit yourself to becoming an Energy Activist Watch the video here. 2. Practice Yoga Outside. Feel your feet connect with the ground, the wind in your hair, and give gratitude to Mother Nature. 3. Unplug . Forsake television, turn off the lights, cell phone and computers, and spend time with your friends or family instead. 4. Reduce Water Consumption. Think before you flush and cut five minutes from your shower. 5. Dedicate Your Practice. Set an intention for your practice, and send lovingkindness to the Earth. To read these ideas and more, visit Shiva Rea’s Yoga Energy Activism , Green Yoga, and Global Green We want to know: How will you celebrate Earth Day?

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Yogis: Take Action On Earth Day

People around the globe jumped into action to support relief efforts and aid to the victims of Japan’s devastating March 11 earthquake and tsunami, and those efforts continue. Yogis have been helping in their own unique ways, with donation classes, fundraisers, and even a Bakesale for Japan , which raised almost $125,000 and counting. For her part, Sarah Baroni, a yogini and jewerly designer in Arcata, California, decided to create the Healing Pendant and donate 100 percent of the net proceeds from its sale to the organization Direct Relief International. “We make jewelry, it’s just the most logical thing for us to do to do our small part to help,” Baroni says. The pendant’s three charms–a dove, a Biwa pearl, and amethyst–represent peace, regeneration, and inner strength, qualities that Baroni wishes for the people of Japan right now.  “I wanted something that felt really healing and peaceful,” she says. Have yogis in your community pitched in to help Japan?

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Yogis Aid Japan’s Tsunami Victims

Every night, I give my five-year old son a blessing based on the Buddhist loving kindness prayer. May you be safe and protected from harm. May you be happy with peace in your heart. May you be healthy, able, and strong. May you go easy through sunshine or storm. He usually rolls over, and goes to sleep. But last night, he looked at me and seemed to have decided that I, too, needed a little love. He put my chin in his hand, and brought his mouth to my ear. Then he proceeded to say the blessing back to me. It was a profound moment. Incredibly, had never thought of actually saying this nightly blessing to myself! I put so much effort into taking care of my kids, the house, my husband, my work, and my home. Sometimes I forget that I need, I deserve, the same kind of love right to come flowing back to myself. Today, I’m going to try to show myself the same love that I show everyone around me. I think it just might pay off. We want to know: How can you show yourself love in everyday moments?

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A Nightly Blessing: Love Thyself

Every few years, stories about possible regulation of yoga teachers and studios surface. This time, it comes from the Great State of Texas. Recently, the Texas Workforce Commission sent out letters to various studios, asking them to become state-licensed career schools regulated by the TWC, explain why they are exempted–or shut down immediately. That’s when the Texas Yoga Association stepped in, arguing that regulation doesn’t apply to yoga and creates undue financial and administrative hardship on studios. “The bottom line is that regulation by the Texas Workforce Commission is not appropriate for yoga studios and does not benefit yoga students,” says TYA. Sign the petition “Keep Government Out of My Yoga” here. We want to know: Do you know where your state stands on regulation? Why are you for it or against it?  

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Don’t Mess with Texas (Yoga Teachers)

Balancing the business and spiritual sides of yoga has always been a delicate one. An article in Business Week broaches the scramble for yoga teachers to trademark their yoga styles, citing that “out of the 2,213 trademark applications containing the word yoga, more than 2,000 have been filed since 2001.” The original yogi to trademark his style is Bikram Choudhury, who got a lot of slack at the time for his desire to “own” his series of poses. But now, the trend has caught on. From BROga® to Hillbilly Yoga®, many teachers are choosing to go the Bikram route. Hanel then broaches the underlying message: that yoga is going mainstream. As the Eastern mystic practice has spread from hippies to soccer moms to Metallica fans (yes, there’s Metal Yoga™), aspiring gurus are seeing an opportunity in the $6 billion U.S. yoga market. “Yoga today is where the Food Network was 15 years ago,” says Ava Taylor, whose Brooklyn-based Yama Talent manages the careers of 41 ambitious yogis. “Many of these teachers will cross over into the mass market.” We want to know: What do you think of trademarking yoga styles?

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Trademarked Yoga Is All The Rage

Aadil Palkhivala , former student of BKS Iyengar and founder of Purna Yoga, always manages to distill the essence of yoga eloquently and passionately. Recently, I asked this master teacher a few questions about his new book, Fire of Love: For Students of Life, For Teachers of Yoga. Q: You’ve said that ”yoga is not to be performed: Yoga is to be lived.” What does this mean? A: Performing yoga is aggrandizing the ego. When yoga is done for perfection of posture, it is done for somebody else, the show, the façade, the appearance. When we live yoga we are working for the very reason our spirits took birth in human form. Therefore, performance is a waste of time. Living yoga alone is meaningful.   Q: As yogis, how can we bring what we learn onto the mat into our lives? A: While practicing asana on the yoga mat, we learn how to focus, how to be nonviolent, how not to cheat one part of our body to favor another part. We learn how to do the bandhas to control our sexual energy, how to be content with what we can do today and not be forever greedy. These are the lessons of the yamas. Bringing these lessons into our life makes the practice on the mat meaningful. Q: Can you explain the title of your book, “Fire of Love?” A: During deep meditation, when I look inside myself, I see several fires burning. They include the fire of creativity, of passion, of power, of expression, of thought. To me, the most sacred of these is the one that burns in my Heart Center, the Fire of Love.  Hence, the name of my book.

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Aadil Palkhivala’s Fire Burns Bright

Hugh Hefner has done it again. The controversial and eternally youthful playboy is in the spotlight once more, this time because of a flashy Playboy video showing a female playmate doing yoga poses. The Hindu keepers of the yoga flame are livid, according to a various news reports . “Hindus are upset over what is the misuse of the age-old and revered system of yoga by Playboy for mercantile greed. . . ” said Rajan Zed, president of the Universal Society of Hinduism. “Yoga is one of the six systems of orthodox Hindu philosophy and it is highly revered in Hinduism. It is a serious mental and physical discipline by means of which the human soul can unite with the universal soul.” This is yet another chapter in the raging debate about who gets to define modern yoga. Not every case is as extreme as Hugh vs. the Hindus, but the core issues–materialism, commercialism, and sexism–remain the same. We want to know:   Do you think Hugh Hefner has crossed the line? Is this latest flap an insult to yogis, or do you just take it with a grain of salt?    

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Hefner Blasphemes Yoga

Joy is our natural state. When I say this out loud, it makes perfect sense. So what happens along the way? Feeling bogged down by responsibility, unexamined emotions, and a whole list of “shouldas,” it’s so easy to veer from this natural state. Writer Karen Talavera tackles the topic of joy in the second of her a two-part series in her blog, The Accidental Seeker. Talavera’s impassioned plea about following our bliss is nothing brand new, but it’s a gentle reminder to remember what is so easy to forget from day to day. She talks about what prevents us from joy–and how to recognize joy when it’s right in front of our noses. The next time you’re faced with a decision as mundane as whether to go to the grocery store or take a walk in the woods, or as serious as whether to move up a rung on the corporate ladder or start your own business, give it the “internal alignment” test.  Forget for a minute your external circumstances like money, image and obligation, and ask yourself one elemental question, which choice leads to joy? Your heart will tell you loud and clear. A yoga practice helps us tune into our inner voice, and connect with our hearts so that we can feel the joy that already exists in and around us. Ultimately, we can make the choices that support joy, even when life seems overwhelmed with sadness, grief, or pressure. For today, choose joy. We want to know: How does your yoga practice connect you with joy? What are the small choices you make that bring you joy?  

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Follow Your Bliss

Obsessing about what you didn’t say at a job interview. Wishing your partner acted differently. Believing that you aren’t smart enough. This is the way the mind works. Or is it? I’ve been thinking a lot about these stories we tell ourselves. My book club just finished the fascinating book My Stroke of Insight by Jill Bolte Taylor. If you haven’t heard about it, she is a brain scientist who tells the story of her stroke. After the stroke, she has experiences of bliss because the part of her brain that governs judging, language, and ego is damaged. She just feels totally at peace and connected to all beings. What she learns is profound. After her recovery, she writes: Now that my left mind’s language centers and storyteller are back to functioning normally, I find my mind not only spins a wild tale but has a tendency to hook into negative patterns of thought. I have found that the first step to getting out of these reverberating loops of negative thought or emotion is to recognize when I am hooked into those loops . . . Learning to listen to your brain from the position of non-judgmental witness may take some practice and patience, but once you master this awareness, you become free to step beyond the worrisome drama and trauma of your storyteller. As yogis, we know how to become a witness to our mind. We know how to move beyond obsessive thoughts, story telling, and negative thought patterns. We know–but sometimes we forget. Choose happiness. Start today. We want to know: When do you call on your practice to choose happiness? Nora Isaacs is a Bay Area-based health writer and editor.

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Choose Happiness

Five years ago, every time a yoga story appeared in The New York Times , I’d get dozens of emails from friends and family who knew I was a writer in “the yoga world.” That doesn’t happen anymore–because yoga stories are now de rigueur for the Paper of Record. I love that these stories are so frequently popping up in The New York Times , giving a little cultural commentary on what’s happening beyond my neighborhood. This Sunday, my morning paper-reading ritual included two entertaining articles that shed a little more light on the yoga scene nationwide. In ” Their Lotus Can’t Take Root on a Yoga Mat ,” noticed.html Mary Billard illuminates the trend of forsaking one’s yoga mat for a mat-free practice. “The ecstasy of yoga can’t be contained by a mat,” said Dana Flynn, a director of Laughing Lotus, a yoga studio in New York and San Francisco. Many teachers at her studio have done away with mats and practice solely on the hardwood floor. “The lotus flow is a devotional dance,” she added. “The rubber just got in the way.” That last part made me laugh. In the City Room section, an article by Lizette Alvarez called ” The Jocks Throw Down Their Mats ” chronicles her visit to Jivamukti, where she noticed an uptick in the number of men surrounding her in class. Lately it seems that the number of guys stretching and twisting beside me–at least in some studios–has risen quite a bit. And I mean the kind of guy who advertises his jock credentials and shamelessly checks out the women in class. The sort of dude who not too long ago derided yoga as a chick thing–like going to see “Eat Pray Love.” We want to know: Do you use a yoga mat? Do you notice more men in your yoga class? Does the New York Times accurately reflect what you see happening in the yoga world? Nora Isaacs is a Bay Area-based health writer and editor.

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The New York Times Hearts Yoga

Who doesn’t want a little more peace and love? That’s the idea behind The World Peace & Yoga Jubilee happening on October 21-24 in tranquil Loveland, Ohio. Billed as four days of peace, yoga, food and music, the Jubilee will gather an international group of yogis, foodies, activists, and peacemakers from around the world. The theme of the first-ever vegan yoga conference is Find Your Voice Speak Your Truth, and will feature teachers like Sharon Gannon and Lilias Folan, yogi musicians on the scene like MC Yogi, PETA founder Ingrid Newkirk, and master vegan chefs. The organizers also partner with the Deaf Yoga Foundation and have signers available. Co-founded by yoga teacher Anna Ferguson and vegan chef Mark Stroud, the festival is basedon the teachings of Will Tuttle, author of The World Peace Diet (who will speak at the conference) to educate, encourage, and promote a plant-based diet to create a more peaceful world. Achieving world peace might seem like a lofty goal, but not to Stroud and Ferguson, who believe that world peace starts with the food we put on the table: World Peace Earth is a foundation with a mission to “create world peace one lifestyle change at a time.” World Peace Earth makes a positive difference in local and world communities through service, education and a dedication to peace in action. Educating, encouraging, researching and promoting a complete plant-based vegan lifestyle to create a loving, kind and respectful relationship between animals, people and the earth contributing to world peace.” For more information, visit www.worldpeaceinc.com/home/jubilee.html . We want to know: Do you see vegetarianism as the first step to world peace? Nora Isaacs is a Bay Area-based health writer and editor.

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The World Peace & Yoga Jubilee

Bhakti, the Sanskrit word for devotion or connection to God, can be an intimidating concept even for experienced yoga practitioners–if not for its religious associations, for its scriptural context within the ancient mythology of the Bhagavad Gita. If its namesake event, Bhakti Fest, a four-day celebration of around-the-clock kirtan, yoga, and the healing arts in Joshua Tree, California last weekend was any indicator, Bhakti is experiencing a modern-day renaissance. Krishna Das, Jai Uttal, Sean Johnson, and Dave Stringer were among the musical headliners while Saul David Raye, Seane Corn, Krishna Kaur, and Dana Flynn led back-to-back yoga classes in tents and halls across festival grounds. Ram Dass made a video appearance and workshop content ranged from Ayurveda to yoga psychology and the symbolism of Hindu and Tibetan deities. The festival is certainly visionary in its mission to create a sacred space and vibrant community. The desert setting, a sort of surrealistic playground reminiscent of Burning Man, fostered a palpable air of magic as attendees of all ages from as far as Australia and Ukraine sang, danced, and constructed impromptu altars in celebration of the present moment. Bhakti Fest also featured an impressive array of raw and vegan culinary offerings and a healing sanctuary that appealed to my newest of new age desires. I felt my former analytical constructions of Bhakti dissolve to the sound of a drumbeat after a transformative session of subtle-body healing, lecture on the Mayan calendar and an hour or so of ecstatic trance dance with the festival’s Ombassador Shiva Rea. As Radhanath Swami explained in a Sunday address, “Bhakti makes no sense to the intellect, but perfect sense to the heart.”  Photo Credit: Julianne Reynolds Shannon Skillern is a yoga teacher, designer, macrobiotic cook and student of ayurveda.

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Divine Celebration

One of my first yoga teachers, Michael Cooper, had a playful way of teaching. In the midst of a pose, he’s stop, look confused and ask “What time is it?” During my very first class with him, I looked up at the clock and said “It’s 1:30.” The experienced yogis in the room chuckled. He asked again, a little louder: “What time is it?” After a beat, the yoga veterans all said in unison “Now!” This was ten years ago, but every single time someone asks me what time it is, I think of that expression. No matter where I am, it brings me back to his message: Presence of mind. At first, it was helpful when my muscles shook and balance tottered in Warrior III, but now it helps me when I’m in traffic or standing in line at the grocery store. I like to think of these ingrained reminders I’ve gathered over the years as my very own Yoga Jingle, a spiritual twist on those advertising tunes that we can’t get our of our heads. Instead of urging me to consume, however, my jingle reminds me to stay calm, stay present, and remember that everything is unfolding just as it should. We want to know: What’s your Yoga Jingle? How do you use it in your everyday life? Nora Isaacs is a Bay Area-based health writer and editor.

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Inspiration: What’s Your Yoga Jingle?

The Cowboys’ football stadium was over run with 400 yogis this weekend. Saluting the sun and lunging their hearts out to help raise money for breast cancer, these yogis raised more than $10,000 and showed the country what yoga can do. Don’t mess with yogis, y’all. As Nerissa Knight reports from CBS 11 : While the Dallas Cowboys were preparing to meet the Chargers in San Diego on Saturday night, hundreds of women converged on Cowboys Stadium in Arlington to heal their bodies and minds, and they did it all for a great cause. It was the largest yoga class in Texas. And tickets to the event raised more than $14,000 to help in the fight against breast cancer.

 “It’s a great feeling to be here and help raise money,” said Dawn Dixon, who participated in the class. “I’m a survivor myself and I know what it feels like. “While coach Wade Phillips leads the Cowboys, yoga instructor Wade Morisette (brother of recording artist Alanis Morisette) led a group of about 400 people, mostly women, in the house that Jerry built. The football stadium was the perfect place for them to practice yoga and help others, thanks to the Dallas County and Greater Fort Worth affiliates of Susan G. Komen For the Cure and Indigo Yoga.
 “I’m a breast cancer survivor and I feel great to be here,” said class participant Lisa Prescher. “I feel like it’s a personal accomplishment, and I’d like to share it with others. “More and more women are using the ‘downward facing dog’ to take a bite out of breast cancer, and attain emotional and spiritual strength. “Breast cancer is really running through our population right now,” said yoga instructor Brooke Hinkle, who was at the Saturday class. “Yoga is a very powerful practice. It will not only strengthen the immune system, but strengthen the whole body.” “It was a great time and a great practice,” said class participant Melissa Sexton. “It was a lot of fun. I really enjoyed it.” The group plans to hold a similar event on Sunday at the Fort Worth Zoo. Tickets are $35 each.

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Don’t Mess with Texas’ Yogis

Yoga teachers often feel the need to inspire others to live consciously. Depending on their intentions and methods, they may or may not be successful. As students, we come to class to feel refreshed, renewed and challenged. Again, depending on our mental state du jour, we may or may not feel much shift. A teacher of mine once said that once the student is advanced enough he or she is able to find that every class is the perfect class. No matter how preachy the teacher, how off-putting the music, or how sweaty the neighbor, an advanced student adeptly extracts the lesson from each situation. But what about those of us just getting in to yoga? There are clearly some teachers who take advantage of their position of power (a roomful of open ears for 90 minutes) to climb onto a soap box and impose their views. Is this ok? As a student, do you find your zen or protest the violation of your space? As Neal Pollack (author of the new book Stretch: The Unlikely Making of  Yoga Dude ) writes for salon.com, it’s not so much about whether or not you’re irritated, but about how you handle the irritation: “The teacher had preached, didactically and unpleasantly. But what I’d done in response, I finally realized, had been totally wrong and disrespectful. It took months for me to understand that I’d gone blindly into one of the founding studios of modern yoga, thrown a fit worthy of a toddler so far gone that no shiny object could distract him from his rage, and left with nothing in return. Before the yoga, I’d behaved that way fairly often. It was about as far from my best self as I could get. In fact, I’d even go so far as to call it my bad self . But even serious yogis, I was learning, are often tempted to get down with their bad selves. This was the true yoga practice, the real discipline and dedication, and getting there, I began to understand, would take a lot more practice.” Have you ever had a class or a teacher that really irritates you? How do you notice it and make it your practice?

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When Yoga Teachers Turn to Lifestyle Preachers

I left New York City on Monday with everything I own packed into a trailer, and set out for Austin, Texas, where I will be living for the foreseeable future. Though this was my decision, and I think a good one for my yoga career, my health, and my sanity, today it hit me: Everything I knew about my life in the city is now technically gone from me. My home, my neighborhood, my social scene, my yoga classes, even my local cafe have dissolved away as if in a dream, since I can no longer rely on them to help me feel grounded and secure. I spent a decade getting to know friends, eating at my favorite places, living in an apartment I loved, and settling into a routine that comforted me.  The fact that I know that moving to Austin will be more productive for me doesn’t change how floaty and surreal the world feels right now. Even the ground itself is moving, the highway spooling out and spinning away beneath my wheels. When most everything external literally proves to be as impermanent as the Buddhists and yogis tell us it is, whether it’s a big move we’re going through, the loss of a relationship, a job or smaller transitions, like a well-worn pair of jeans finally kicking the bucket, there’s always a sensation of shift.  These moments of ebb and flow can be unbalancing and scary.   Yoga teaches us about ideas that come from the things other people have lived. We turn to our teachers as guideposts, as those who have navigated similar situations, and emerged victorious using the tools of conscious awareness they then pass onto us. When our studies meet our personal life, and we are asked to walk the walk along this path, it’s a whole new yoga practice, perhaps the hardest one of all. I don’t know about you, but I’d much rather endure Warrior 3 until my leg gave out than go through a breakup or a radical move.   When we as seekers of center experience times where all that we thought was real turns to smoke and slips through our fingers, and we’re dealing with the grieving process of moving from the past into the present, there’s a powerful question I can think of that we might ask ourselves: This is happening. Now, what am I gonna do about it? Believe me, when I was in the space of first realizing how much I’d just given up in order to follow my goals, one thing I could have done was totally, completely freak out. I felt the panic rising, as if I was that little bubble that’s supposed to be in the middle of a carpenter’s level, but someone tipped it, and my poor bubble was squished way up in the corner. In that moment could have turned back, canceled the whole crazy Austin idea, and settled back into what I knew.   Then again, my heart is calling me towards something different, and if yoga has taught me anything, it’s to be able to endure uncomfortable sensations in the body, mind, and heart, long enough to get to that atman, the soul, or center of myself. Once there, I can more easily bring myself back to a leveling off place, and find that calm bubble of my core returning to center. In fact, it’s not our inner peace that wavers as life does, but our moveable parts: thoughts, emotions, expectations, perspectives, and even the physical body. When we remember that just because our outer world changes doesn’t mean our innermost one has to, we dissolve the illusion that we are the constructs, and not the constant. So, we can answer our own question by choosing to draw not from our first reactions, but from the stillness inside. Then we can act from equilibrium to move towards the next, though as yet unformed, part of our journey, with the integrity it takes to create the future experience we want to live most of all.   Here’s the pose I did at the Virginia rest stop that helped me remember that … Core Pose: Natarajasana   If you see a statue of Nataraj, you’ll notice he’s standing on what appears to be a baby. Don’t be alarmed–it’s actually a demon. Nataraj is the cosmic dancer, and he exemplifies the power of riding the wave of universal energy rather than being consumed by the dark forces of doubt, insecurity, lack, and fear. Whenever I want to find my ground, and from there, let the joyful dance of life take me where I’m supposed to go next, I make sure to include Natarajasana in my practice.   Stand with feet hip-distance, about two-fists-width wide. Ground into your right foot, and bend your left knee so you can take hold of the outside of the left foot or ankle in your left hand. As you draw your low belly up and lengthen the tailbone down to maintain space in the front and back of your lumbar curve, begin to kick your foot behind you as you reach the chest and right arm forward, or up to the sky as your balance and flexibility allows. The amount of backbend here is up to you, but if you stay rooted into your standing leg and foot you’ll gain the stability and gravity this pose requires in order to inspire its freedom dance.

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Finding Center

I’ve been away from yoga class for almost two weeks. Granted, I’ve done lots of practice in hotels, other people’s basements, and on the deck of a cottage in beautiful morning sun, but jeepers, I miss class. This morning someone asked me if I have a dog. “Do you like yoga?” I replied. “No,” she said.  “What does that have to do with a dog?” “Nothing at all.  It’s just the only thing I can think of right now.” I have lots of these conversations when I’ve been away from class. I miss my teachers, who are kind and excellent at what they do, and funny while they’re at it. I miss the other students, most of whom are strangers to me, all of whom love what I love and are therefore friends of a kind. I miss the sound of people breathing in unison. I miss the gorgeous, quiet yoga music they play during Savasana. I miss that dopey feeling that comes from a fully relaxed body and mind. And I miss chanting om together at the end.   You forget how lovely all of this is until you’ve been away for a little while. What would you miss if you missed two weeks? Thanks to my home studio for being there tomorrow (I’m so excited!), and thanks to you for the conversation. Kristin Shepherd practices yoga, theatre, public speaking, writing, and chiropractic in North Bay, Ontario. Contact her at kristinshepherd.ca and at Dr. Kristin Shepherd on Facebook.

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Missing Class

Photo: Trying to be productive at the University of British Columbia library. I’m sitting in the library on campus with a thermometer in my mouth and a stack of tissues on my desk, feeling entirely unenlightened.   My husband Neil is out of town for work, and I’m sick–can hardly get out of bed sick–for the second time this month, and the sixth or seventh time (at least) since September.   Before having a baby, I’d heard from friends about the dreaded string of colds and flu that a little one can bring home from preschool or daycare.   But Neil and I thought that wouldn’t be us, not with our good eating habits, early to bed early-to-rise schedules, and healthy lifestyles.   Hah!   Lucien goes to a wonderful morning daycare program on campus four mornings a week where his teachers are not only loving and caring, but diligent about washing hands.   Yet no amount of hand washing or hand sanitizing has stopped Lucien from coming home with minor nose drips–which, when we adults get them, turn into raging fevers and coughs and congestion.   Neil had walking pneumonia earlier this year, and I had H1N1 back in the fall, and then the regular flu a couple months ago.   Even a run of the mill fever and sore throat like I have now makes my normal life seem all of a sudden unmanageable–especially with Neil away.   What’s a yogi to do?   I’ve tried vitamins, immune-system building asana sequences, but nothing seems to be enough to fend off the viruses.   What’s strange, too, is that I feel great in between illnesses. Then all of a sudden I feel the tell-tale scratchy throat, sneezes, and the shivers that come with fever.   Sleeping fitfully last night, it was all I could do to make breakfast, pack a lunch, and get Lucien ready for the drive to campus this morning.   Thank goodness our babysitter can come over this afternoon so I can sleep off my fever, b ut I’m determined to figure out how we can get and stay healthy–or at least healthier–from now on.   How do you stay healthy with young children in the house? Ideas and suggestions, please? Jessica Berger Gross is the author of enLIGHTened: How I Lost 40 Pounds with a Yoga Mat, Fresh Pineapples, and a Beagle Pointer   (Skyhorse), she lives in Vancouver, British Columbia with her husband and two-year-old son.

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Sick of Being Sick

Last week while on a trip to Japan with my husband, yoga teacher Jason Crandell, I got to witness the true meaning of yoga, or union: On a sunny Saturday morning, more than 700 yogis gathered together in a grassy park outside of the sleek Roppongi Hills mall in Tokyo to take part in the Yoga Aid Challenge. Now in its fifth year (and with events throughout the year in seven countries), the Tokyo Yoga Aid participants raised more than 1.2 million yen  for local charities. The reward for participating? Practicing together in the park while 12 well-known teachers led a two-hour class. As each teacher took 10 minutes to share their teachings with the crowd, I was struck by how beautifully diverse yoga is: Ms. Michiko Minegishi took to the stage with dramatic music and her inspiring students behind her, Duncan Wong got his groove on while sharing his Yogic Arts style, former San Francisco Bay Area resident and Anusara Yoga teacher Mark Shveima (he now resides in Kyoto) showed his hard-won skills by leading the crowd in Japanese. ”Lunge-en-a-pose-u!” said Shveima and the students obliged him with a High Lunge, arms extending skyward. American teachers (like my hubby) and Gurmukh Kaur Khalsa shared their portion of the practice via translators. Despite the teachers’ stylistic differences, the mixed class came together seamlessly. As the practice ended and all 700 of us put our arms around each other and sang with Gurmukh “We are the people, the people of love. Let us people, love today” I was not only feeling the love, I was feeling blessed to have experienced such a sense of union even though I was so far from home. The video I put together above shows just a few highlights from the day. –Andrea Ferretti

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It’s a Small World

This weekend, I’m leading a three-day Core Strength Immersion in New York City. After writing my post about respecting limitations while still seeking transformation, I decided to make a public statement, not only to the 60 students in the room, but all the future yogis who will watch the Immersion (it’s being filmed): Let your poses be imperfect. That’s right; I’ve hit a tipping point in my teaching where I am becoming much more interested in what a student can do to be more honestly themself in a pose, and I care much less how straight they can get their front leg in Triangle. For an instructor who doubles as an anatomy geek, it may seem unusual to hear me say this, yet nothing could be more my style. Symmetry, or perfection as we sometimes think of it (the “perfect” body, relationship, or handstand), is what you get in a office building, with its level surfaces and, straight lines. Balance, on the other hand, is what nature does, and it’s wild and free, yet comes to find its own equilibrium after all. Think of a river, which meanders here and there but ultimately reaches its source.   In your yoga poses, and your life–have you been remaining sensitive to your state of balance, or straining for symmetry? If it’s the latter, this may help give you perspective: There is not one thing in the human body that runs in a straight line. Our bones, blood, and breath all move in a spiral motion. Our nerves, spine, brain, joints, GItract? Not linear either. Yet so often, we strive to attain linear poses that our bodies are not made to reach. We want to be in alignment in a way that’s healthy and balanced, but it’s easy to let symmetry-seeking creep into the process. The end result can be a hardening of the outer body, layering on more and more  tension as we try to grip and force ourselves into pre-conceived geometry. Instead, there is a way of balancing this sthira (strength) with sukha (ease). A way to allow our spinning, waving, spiraling selves to soften enough to find the true edge, dissolve areas of tension, and still move forward into what is our unique optimal alignment. I speak from experience, because I used to be militant about doing every pose “right.” In my quest for the perfect body on and off the mat, I developed an eating disorder as well as a ton of yoga-related repetitive stress injuries. Along the way, I did reach my goal of handstand without the wall. What I did not attain, however, was any sort of happiness or joy. Therefore, in my opinion, I wasn’t practicing yoga at all, but dukha , or suffering. A focus on perfection will always circle back to the big D. Later in life and yoga, I got so sick (literally) of forcing myself into a box, that I began to seek out studios and teachers who advocated mindful, individual adaptation over form. I noticed that most of these teachers were over 40, many of them much older. Their physical asanas were very different than mine, yet the message is so freeing: Take this practice, poses, lessons and all, and make it yours, without apology or regret. Approaching 40 myself, I can tell you that a relaxation occurs after a certain amount of time struggling and failing to reach absolute symmetry. You see it in the attitudes of certain grandparents, and it shows up in the practices of longtime yogis.  The amazing thing is, once I let go of my quest for the unattainable, many of the poses, like the hovering jump-forward that I could never before master, became available to me. Yoga, ultimately is a path of personal transformation, not perfection. Reclaiming this aspect of your practice gets you into direct connection with your core, and asks that you express your truth to the world in the way that’s best for you. When we remember that our growth and spiritual awakening happens only to the extent we can get present, get close to our inner nature, and take actions from integrity–none of which have a thing to do with a false ideal of perfection–life becomes wildly, strangely, perfect after all. Core Pose: CAT/COW VARIATIONS Sometimes, I feel like anything not on the the mat is forbidden territory–or “hot lava,” as we called it in my childhood. Yet venturing outside the rectangle can be just what you need to find pockets of tension, and then move and breathe to release them. Come onto your hands and knees. Take a few arches and curls of the spine, then begin to move creatively as you listen to the cues of your body. Move your head, your arms, and even legs to serve your goals of equalizing support and freedom. Spend a few minutes in this pose, adventuring in your own way!

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A Better Balance

I’m in Boston today, wiped out but happy after a day of teaching two back-to-back workshops at the fabulous South Boston Yoga . I taught for nearly five straight hours, and it was glorious. Teachers of all styles were there, alongside beginners, and yogis of all ages and abilities. They breathed together, stuck their tongues out for resounding Lion’s Poses, and even laughed freely at my silly jokes. Example: “Why is the pelvic floor like Elvis? Because it always leaves the building.” (insert groan here). At the end of class, we sang the following Bon Jovi Chant as one rockin’ voice. (Come into Easy Seat, Hands at chest in Namaste, then fingers interlaced): Whoa….We’re halfway there Who-oh! Living on a Prayer Take my hand, We’ll make it, I swear, Who-oh! Living on a prayer (repeat 3 times, and after the last verse, immediately sing the following line) Living on a prayer. . .OM. See it here . For a moment in time, a bunch of people who were strangers just three hours before were transformed into a kula, or community of the heart. It’s something I’ll never forget. Even the studio owners, the immensely knowledgeable David Vendetti and Todd Skoglund, planted themselves in the front row, and practiced next to their students, as students themselves. Though I was a new presence in the studio, and the SBY students are very loyal to their teachers, they received my instruction with a gung-ho excitement to try something new. Instead of meeting resistance as a foreign yogi in a new land, I felt like I’d come home to the wild welcome of yoga brothers and sisters I didn’t know I had. Yoga gives us all a chance to find a family of like-minded souls, and to share the experience of moving to and from Center together. When we embrace that family of choice, it enriches our personal yoga journey far more than just going it alone. As Jon Bon Jovi says, “Take my hand . . . we’ll make it, I swear.” To me, Core Strength starts with making a connection to your deepest Self, and from there, developing the courage to offer your truth to others. Receiving their offering of love and respect in return makes the challenges (burning thigh in Warrior 2, anyone?) you endure to get there so completely worth it. So thanks, Boston Family, for reminding me of that. Core Question: Where is your yoga family? Tell us how you knew you’d found a home! Who can you recognize with gratitude for welcoming you as one of their own?

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Boston Family

Three Virginia yoga teachers took action Tuesday to stop the state’s efforts to regulate yoga teacher training programs. The teachers filed a federal lawsuit claiming that teaching yoga is a form of protected free speech, according to a recent Washington Post article. “Yoga is the study of the self through direct experience,” Suzanne Leitner-Wise, a plaintiff and president of U.S. 1 Yoga Teacher Training told the Washington Post . “You simply can’t put regulations on that. It’s just dumb.” Do you think the argument will hold up?

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VA Yoga Teachers Fight State Regulation

Since I began teaching I’ve been on a quest to learn the secret to adjusting. Until last weekend, it hadn’t gone so well. I’ve been down many avenues on this quest: I learned a bit in teacher training (”adjusting basics”, which I then promptly forgot in favor of pose names and sequences); I’ve bought “adjusting” books (its hard to learn hands-on from a sheet of paper); I’ve attended short “adjusting” trainings (they didn’t quite get into what I was seeking); I’ve assisted other teachers (I was free to give all the adjustments I wanted but I was never quite sure what those should be). None of them measured up to what I was hoping to learn. And then last weekend I had the pleasure of attending a Thai Yoga Massage workshop led by Jonas Westring, (Anusara Yoga Instructor, Therapeutic Bodyworker, and owner of Shantaya Yoga and Bodywork School ). I have to admit, when I signed up I thought the workshop would be informative but have very little to do with my yoga teaching. It was obvious from the first sequence that I was dead wrong. Turns out I had discovered the secret to all of those fantastic, deep, yummy adjustments that I have been longing to learn. After just one day with Jonas I left equipped with clear insight into how to adjust the body, be sensitive to what is going on with my students’ bodies, and to take care of myself while I’m adjusting. It was an invaluable experience that left me feeling like I had finally found a practice that could deeply change not only the way I adjust but how I interact with my students and their practice. I can’t wait to learn more. To get a taste of some Thai Yoga Massage adjustments check out Saul David Raye’s article: Get in Touch .

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The Secret to Adjusting

Recently a friend and newly anointed yoga teacher asked me for advice on how to pick a yoga studio to teach at. I thought it was a great question from a newbie since I see so many new teachers salivate over ANY class they can call their own, even if it’s at 4:30am AND 20 miles outside of town AND they have to pay for cleaning AND the list goes on… After several years of trial and error I think the best way to ensure success is to make sure you consider all aspects of any teaching opportunity: Do you like the studio & its students? A studio you teach at should be a place you feel at home in and you would want to practice there yourself. Every studio has a very different personality so some will fit and some just won’t. Do you like the owner? The owner/management has so much influence on a studio and your experience in it. Make sure your personalities mesh before committing to a class Do people like working there? Talk to other teachers and get their experience. Are you going to get a time slot that works well? While it can be good experience when you’re starting out to get any slot (especially at a studio you really want to teach at), it can also be a real bummer to show up and have just a few students (or none at all some days). Figure out what attendance that slot currently gets and what you are willing to live with. What don’t you know yet? Do you get paid per student or a flat-fee? Is there a minimum you will be paid or if you show up and no-one else does do you go home empty-handed? Do they take anything out of your pay per month (like insurance or a cleaning fee)? Are you required to have liability insurance on your own? How often are you paid? Do they have front desk people working or do you have to sign people in? How early are you expected to be there for your class? Are you responsible for getting your own subs? Is there a sub list or can you get anyone to sub? What is the process? Are there any other things you will be expected to do? For those more seasoned teachers out there—what else do you consider before committing to a new studio or new class? Need ideas on how to get your chosen studio to notice you? Learn how to catch a studio’s attention .

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Where to Teach

Slate magazine’s site Doublex.com recently featured an article about the trials and tribulations of being a yoga teacher. We all know making a living as a teacher isn’t easy, and with teacher training enrollment up during a down economy it sounds like the competition for teaching gigs is going to keep growing. (From a supply and demand standpoint, that also might mean lower pay for the teachers who land those gigs, which would make it harder than ever to pay the bills.) “If you want yoga to pay your bills, you’ve got to leave the deep breathing and asanas at the door and do the capitalist hustle,” writes the article’s author Anna Sale. My question is for the yoga teachers who read this blog. Do you feel like you’re doing a “capitalist hustle” these days, juggling many different small jobs just to pay the bills?

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Teaching: It’s Harder Than It Looks

I’ll never forget the time a yoga teacher looked at me in a pose (it was a variation of Gomukhasana (Cow Face Pose), scowled, shook her head, and announced loudly to the entire class, “I can see we’ve got a LOT to learn!” As former YJ Samadhi and the City blogger Valerie Reiss wrote in her latest post at Beliefnet.com , some yoga teachers are not interested in infusing our practices with warm, fuzzy feelings. And, whether they intend to or not, sometimes they can be just plain ol’ mean. “Have I just been jaded by my old Bikram practice where the teachers often wear their harshness like a badge?,” writes Valerie. “Or is it New York, where, frankly I have had some excellent teachers but very few I would call remotely warm or fuzzy?” I don’t think it’s New York, Valerie. You can find grumpy people everywhere–even yoga studios. But that doesn’t mean we can’t learn a lesson from them–yoga, self-restraint, compassion, or perhaps even what NOT to do. Have any of you ever had an encounter with a mean yoga teacher? How did you deal with it? Did you go back?

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Is Your Yoga Teacher Mean?

This weekend there are two big music and yoga festivals happening in the United States. The  Wanderlust Festival , in Lake Tahoe, California, features Anusara founder John Friend, Shiva Rea, and Ducan Wong. The musical line up is just as impressive with Michael Franti, MC Yogi, Gillian Welch, and (one of my personal favorites) Andrew Bird. Meanwhile, in Tulso, Oklahoma the DFest will host bands such as The Black Crowes and Cake. The festival also features a yoga conference (for a list of the teachers click here ). For both festivals, participants can purchase tickets to see the music, take the yoga classes, or both. All this yoga and music festival talk makes me wonder, is this the next big trend in yoga? Are people going to be more likely to go to a yoga conference if it’s combined with their favorite performers? Or will the crowds and the noise make it harder to practice?

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Are Yoga + Music Festivals the Next Big Thing?